When Finlandia redesigned the shape of its classic bottle, the Strategic Group helped the vodka company's domestic importer Brown-Forman transform Splashlight Studios into a Nordic playground to announce the change. The event was produced by Strategic's Tony Berger for client Tim Carey, New York state manager of Brown-Forman.
Playing off the icy reputation of Finlandia's home country, the most abundant color at the event was white. White ottomans, tables and chairs accented with silver and orange throw pillows branded with the Finlandia logo filled the room. Guests could try vodka shots from bowls of ice on giant pedestals set inside floor-to-ceiling columns of white fabric illuminated with brightly colored spotlights.
Joan Steinberg from Match Catering and Eventstyles supplied a Scandinavian menu, including grilled tiger shrimp with Finlandia lime slush, spicy phyllo cones with vodka-cured tuna and lime confetti and frozen cranberry vodka ice pops. Servers clad in wooly, white floor-length skirts and Nordic-style white-blonde bob wigs roved the party serving the treats on silver and white trays illuminated with glowsticks. "Our goal was to give the vodka and its origin country a hip, sexy New York appeal," Steinberg said.
And an event can't fully suggest Finland without ice. For entertainment, guests watched sculptors from Ice Art carve ice sculptures on Splashlight's outdoor patio. The final product was a reindeer alongside a billboard-size bottle of Finlandia, showing off its new design. But the most impressive sculpture of all was the 14-foot-long indoor bar. Constructed entirely out of ice, the massive structure was emblazoned with Finlandia’s logo on all sides and topped with pyramid-shaped ice sculptures with cranberries and limes—evoking two of Finlandia's vodka flavors—suspended inside. Even as DJ E-Love tried to coax partygoers onto the dance floor with her eclectic mix, revelers kept returning to the bar to admire the extraordinary creation—and, of course, take advantage of Finlandia's free-flowing vodka.
—Alesandra Dubin
Playing off the icy reputation of Finlandia's home country, the most abundant color at the event was white. White ottomans, tables and chairs accented with silver and orange throw pillows branded with the Finlandia logo filled the room. Guests could try vodka shots from bowls of ice on giant pedestals set inside floor-to-ceiling columns of white fabric illuminated with brightly colored spotlights.
Joan Steinberg from Match Catering and Eventstyles supplied a Scandinavian menu, including grilled tiger shrimp with Finlandia lime slush, spicy phyllo cones with vodka-cured tuna and lime confetti and frozen cranberry vodka ice pops. Servers clad in wooly, white floor-length skirts and Nordic-style white-blonde bob wigs roved the party serving the treats on silver and white trays illuminated with glowsticks. "Our goal was to give the vodka and its origin country a hip, sexy New York appeal," Steinberg said.
And an event can't fully suggest Finland without ice. For entertainment, guests watched sculptors from Ice Art carve ice sculptures on Splashlight's outdoor patio. The final product was a reindeer alongside a billboard-size bottle of Finlandia, showing off its new design. But the most impressive sculpture of all was the 14-foot-long indoor bar. Constructed entirely out of ice, the massive structure was emblazoned with Finlandia’s logo on all sides and topped with pyramid-shaped ice sculptures with cranberries and limes—evoking two of Finlandia's vodka flavors—suspended inside. Even as DJ E-Love tried to coax partygoers onto the dance floor with her eclectic mix, revelers kept returning to the bar to admire the extraordinary creation—and, of course, take advantage of Finlandia's free-flowing vodka.
—Alesandra Dubin
Sheer white columns of fabric and candy-colored lights filled Splashlight Studios for an event to promote the redesign of Finlandia's bottle.
Ice Art's large, U-shaped ice bar featured the Finlandia logo and ice bottle racks displayed bottles of lime and cranberry-flavored vodka.
Small, pyramid-shaped ice sculptures with cranberries and limes suspended inside topped the large ice bar.
Servers clad in wooly, white floor-length skirts and white-blonde bob wigs served hors d'oeuvres from Match Catering and Eventstyles.
